


The Only Path

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [19]
Category: The Seer and the Sword
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 10:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8202034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Every step they force him to take further from his home cuts Landen's soul even deeper than the rocks cut his feet. He's bound tight, taken as a prize, not even given the chance to bury his father, soon to be taken to Kareed's kingdom for who knows what purpose, but none of that humiliation compares to that he feels from loss of his home.

A look into Landen's thoughts on the march from Bellandra.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Written for H/C Bingo Round 7.

Every step they force him to take further from his home cuts Landen's soul deeper than the rocks cut his feet. He's bound tight, taken as a prize, not even given the chance to bury his father, soon to be taken to Kareed's kingdom for who knows what purpose, but none of that humiliation compares to that he feels from loss of his home. He was to be king--as kind and gentle as his father--and now… now he knows not what fate awaits him. He knows not what further degradation waits at the end of this long march, and knows all too well that, at the hands of such a king, he may never be all that his father wanted him to be. All his father's hopes, dashed in the moment Kareed struck him down, destroyed as Landen failed to strike back, deep and true into the man that had taken his father from him. Only his father's last wish-- _Find someone who can teach you to fight_ \--gives Landen the strength to continue placing one foot in front of the other. Kareed is a warrior, a man of battle, and perhaps, in his kingdom, Landen may learn.

It isn't until he's thrust to his knees before her--the _princess?_ \--that it occurs to him that he may never get the chance.

She stands before him--small yet regal, and so, so _young_ \--and he wonders if there could be anything more painful than this--than kneeling on the ground before the daughter of his father's murderer, soon to be forced into slavery, knowing not if he will be able to achieve his father's last wish, knowing nothing of his future or that of his kingdom.

Of what used to be his kingdom.

He meets her eyes, not from any desire of his own but drawn by some greater force than his own will, and her look of what could be pity would cut so much deeper if he didn't already know her family incapable for such an emotion. It's almost sad, he thinks, that she can mimic the feeling so well when he knows she cannot feel it.

And yet, her words seem to make a mockery of what he thinks he knows. For, instead of accepting him as her slave, she looks up to her father, and her words-- _I set him free_ \--are at once liberating and damning--liberating him from his fate and yet damning him into a debt to her; a debt it may take years to repay, if he ever can. She has given him his freedom, and that, somehow, may be worse than if she'd taken him as a slave. If she had taken him as a slave, that, at least, would have made it clear where they stood. This--her kindness and compassion that seem to make a lie of what he'd first thought of her--blurs the lines, making it unclear who Landen can count as friend and who he must count as enemy. It sets his heart hammering in his chest and--

But now is not the time for doubts. Now is the time for rest, and soon… soon it shall be the time for action. Until then, he must make ready. It is his only path.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
